Megumi at the Edge of the MultiMultiverse
by X to the Zoltan
Summary: One more stop on the journey of Bace Jeleren's fanwalker Megumi. This time, she's visiting a mysterious plane called Xerex, with a strange relationship to the rest of the multiverse. The difficulty in reaching it means that she can take a breather, but more time to think might not be what Megumi needs, and her pursuer won't give up so easily...
1. A Guest to Comfort

**Megumi at the Edge of the MultiMultiverse**  
A _Magic: the Gathering _fanfiction in two parts  
featuring Megumi and Grii, lovely fanwalkers belonging to Bace Jeleren

* * *

**Author's Note - **_This is a contribution to a story jam kicked off by the artist Bace Jeleren. Her fanwalker Megumi is fleeing across the multiverse from Grii, a cyclops with a supernatural aura of terror and a giant sword. Sadly, Megumi can't control control her heading when she planeswalks, so Bace has issued an open invitation for fanwalkers to encounter, help, and/or hinder her in her madcap flight, provided that no story ends the journey, kills any of the principal characters, or takes her to Innistrad. So if you're here for more Megumi, enjoy! If you'd like to meet her and see what you're getting into, be sure to check out Bace's tumblr or twitter.  
_

**Content Notice **\- _This story features a bloody fight scene (as one would expect from a story featuring Grii) and flirts with themes of loneliness, resignation, and despair. Also, Megumi loves to swear, when she can, so there's some language here and there.  
_

* * *

Megumi lay facedown in the grass, breathing slowly. Planeswalking was never smooth for her, but that last jaunt had been something else – the closest sensation she could think of was the phantom pain of slamming into a wall in a dream. She floated up a few inches, limbs and ears dangling, then tossed herself back into a crouch and spat out some dirt. "Fwaah!"

She was alone in a rolling field of golden grass beneath thick, coppery clouds. Shafts of sunlight cut down through them in the distance, turning the field into a shimmering sea. In the opposite direction, a city stood beneath a dark vortex in the clouds. She took a step towards it, but a distant feeling of dread gripped her and she didn't take another.

"Sophi?" she called. "Sophi!"

Nothing. Had Sophi lost her? Was she fighting Grii? She was never more than a few moments behind! Megumi turned in an anxious circle and confirmed that she was well and truly alone. Fear welled up, which reminded her of Grii's approach, which made her more scared. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth – now was not the time to spiral! And if she really was alone, that meant she could…

"Fuck!" she screamed, kicking the dirt. Swearing was bad, sure, but if ever there were a situation that called for it… "Fucking damn it! Assing shitty cocking hell!"

She rested her hands on her knees and panted for breath for a few seconds, already feeling a little better. Sophi wouldn't leave her, so something must have happened, maybe to do with that weird 'hitting a wall' sensation. She just had to jump again when she could, and hope Sophi could track her down again… and that Grii couldn't. Her hands tightened on her knees and she focused on her breath to stay calm, the way Mommy had taught her.

Someone was coming. A group. She tilted her head slowly to track them, a dhampir's sharp senses combining with a soratami's magnificent ears to pinpoint their approach. There were at least five of them, just a few hundred meters away. She could hear heavy fabric swishing and armor clinking, but in an unhurried way. They weren't rushing to take down an intruder…

"…Fireflies said they showed up right around here," a woman's voice was saying. "But if they're quick, we probably missed them."

"That'll be their problem," a higher voice answered. "Oh, and Ryn's, for slacking off on her watch and missing _another _'walker."

They were looking for planeswalkers? Megumi's brows knit. That could be scary, or it could be just what she needed. _What should I do? I wish Sophi were here! _She drew a breath to call out, hesitated, then squinched her eyes tighter. _Come on, Megumi, think!_

"Oh! There! It's just a kid!" the voice was soft. Clearly, they thought she couldn't hear them.

"Do you think this is her first walk?" the other replied. "Let's take it slow. We don't want to scare her. Hey, wait!"

Running boots approached and Megumi finally opened her eyes. The footsteps belonged to a pair of women in heavy brown robes, just coasting to a stop at a respectful distance. When they caught sight of her eyes, the shorter recoiled with a sharp "_DAAH!_", while the taller leaned closer with grave interest. Her face was long and angular, with a sharp nose and chin, and amber eyes that contrasted her dark skin and wavy black hair. "A vampire moonfolk?" she asked. "And so young! Who did this to you?"

The question was so bizarre that Megumi went blank for a moment. Who did what to who? She popped into the air, making the short one yelp again, and floated back for space. When she figured the question out, she was _deeply _annoyed. "Nobody!" she snapped. "This is just the way I am!"

"Yeah, but-!" the shorter started, then fell quiet when the taller laid a hand on her shoulder.

"A dhampir, then, I take it?"

"My Daddy is a vampire!"

"But how-?" the shorter tried again, stilled by a shoulder squeeze.

"Not all vampires are undead," the taller said to her, then turned back to Megumi. "Please forgive our rudeness. My fellow Guides often have me help people who've been transformed against their will, so I've worked with a few vampires in my days. I shouldn't have assumed."

"O-oh." She had been warned about dealing with vampires that her parents hadn't vetted. She was still annoyed, but she could understand the confusion, sort of. "Well, that's okay, I guess."

"So should we introduce ourselves?" the shorter asked brightly.

"Oh! H-hello," Megumi said, trying to find a polite stance in midair. She wasn't quite _intimidated_, but she had a deep sense that she was meeting her hosts, and she wanted to make a good impression. Anyone she met could end up between her and Grii, after all, so she could at least be nice to them. "Pleased to meet you. My name's Megumi, and I'm from Kylem."

"Kylem," the taller said. "I've heard of it."

Mingled hope and frustration crackled through Megumi's chest. Maybe this time… "Are you planeswalkers, too?"

"Yes, we—" the taller started.

"Can you help me get home? Please! I'm really bad at planeswalking and I – I don't know how to aim, and nobody can teach me!" Megumi looked between them and her heart immediately sank. She could _see _the answer bouncing back and forth, neither wanting to give it. "Oh," she said, drifting lower. "Okay."

"We can't teach you how your own planeswalking works, but there are other ways to help you," the shorter said, and lowered her hood. She was pale, with round cheeks and a strong jaw. A metal crest ran along her brow, smooth gold on the left blending into fine sprays of black iron on the right, echoing the coppery highlights in her black hair. The hand she raised in greeting had small clusters of iron along the knuckles, and her nails were pale gold claws. "We're Guides of Xerex – our job is to send you away stronger, if you're worthy. I'm Aufe, of Mirrodin. This lanky bastard is Hira – she's local."

Megumi's mouth fell open before she could stop herself. She'd never seen anyone who looked like Aufe, and she'd met a few Mirran refugees when she was helping Mommy. (Also, she was a fan of the casual swearing.) When Aufe smirked, she squeaked "Sorry!" and snapped it shut.

"Hey, no worries," Aufe said, snickering. "That's what I get for the eye thing, right?"

"Her parents are Vulshok and Auriok," Hira explained. "The lines between the Mirran tribes became less rigid after they defeated the Phyrexian invasion. They call children like her Alloys, though I don't think an alloy of gold and iron is possible…"

"It is, you just need a lot of magnetism." Aufe elbowed Hira. "Which explains my charm."

"Sure," Hira said dryly.

"That… doesn't sound right?" Megumi ventured. When Hira perked up, she flinched. "About the invasion, I mean! I don't think you're lying! It's just not what I heard."

The two shared a significant look, then Hira stepped closer and asked, "Tell me more, please. It doesn't sound right because Mirrodin was never invaded by Phyrexians, or it doesn't sound right because Mirrodin was defeated?"

"I-?" Megumi drifted a little higher and boggled at them from above. "What?"

"I'm surprised you even know about that," Aufe remarked. "It's not the kind of story you'd share with a child. Guess if your kid's a planeswalker, it's good to warn 'em about what's out there…"

"Um, I was supposed to be in bed," Megumi admitted, racking her memory. She'd been _really _sleepy when she overheard the sad fate of Mirrodin. "Auntie Lalia was telling my parents about it. She said Mirrodin was taken over, and the bad guys called it New Phyrexia."

Aufe shivered and spat.

"Sorry," Megumi said quickly, bobbing back.

"No, that helps," Hira said, patting Aufe's arm. "That narrows it down for us. We might know where you came from, now. Can you please come along with us?" She beckoned Megumi on. In the distance ahead of them, the small cluster of armored men and women spread out to escort them. "Oh, and don't mind the Guardians. They're here to assist us."

"Uh, okay," Megumi said, darting up to her elbow as she started away. "But I told you! I came from Kylem!"

"Ah, yes, but which Kylem?"

Megumi pondered that for a long moment, then she gasped. "Are you saying-?" She glanced to Aufe, who flashed her a quick smile. If she was from an unfamiliar Mirrodin… "Are there _other_ Kylems?"

"Welcome to Xerex," Hira said. "The hidden world where the multiverse splits. It's… complicated."

"Don't feel bad if you don't get it," Aufe added. "I didn't, at first."

"You can think of the multiverse as being stacked up in layers that never touch each other, and history plays out differently in each one. Maybe the Ixilan you could planeswalk to is ruled by the Sun Empire, but the Legion of Dusk rules on another layer, and in yet another they're locked in conflict to this day. And yet you'd never even have to even think about the other layers if not for this plane, which is the same across all of them. If a planeswalker comes here from any layer, they arrive on the same plane, and can meet. Does that make sense?"

"I—I think so." Megumi's eyes grew wide and she rolled over onto her back, staring into the coppery sky as she cruised at Hira's side. "How did I get to a place like _this?_"

"I'm wondering the same thing," Hira admitted. "Normally, planeswalkers need very specific instructions to come here. The fact that you managed to find us by accident is astounding."

"So take heart, Megumi!" Aufe said, laughing. "You're not just bad at planeswalking, you're _giftedly _bad!"

Hira swatted her. "Don't be cruel."

Megumi didn't comment, but the joke hit her oddly. It sounded like the kind of playful barbs Daddy and Uncle Elias slung between them, and it was oddly nice to be on the receiving end of one. Like she was just part of the group, instead of a tiny burden they'd gathered to protect. _Oh no, wait! They don't still know! _

The reality of Megumi's situation fell into her stomach like a stone and she dropped to her feet. The ground was rough and dry beneath her sandals as she trotted to keep up. "S-so people can't just planeswalk here?" she asked. "It's safe?"

"No plane is totally safe," Hira said, slowing for her. "But Xerex is very difficult to reach. Why?"

"There's someone after me," Megumi said, then drew a deep breath and plunged into her story. Grii the cyclops, a towering, implacable monster stalking her from plane to plane. Her guardian, the angel Sophi, now missing. Darting from plane to plane, making friends and allies everywhere, but nobody who could help her get home. Telling it was getting easier with practice. "So I can't control where I go, but I can't stay anywhere for too long, 'cause Grii will catch me if I do! Unless… if she can't come here…"

"_Memnarch_, what a nightmare…" Aufe said softly.

Hira listened carefully, then looked to her companion. "What do you think, Aufe?"

"I'd normally say forget it, but in case this Grii has any experience with hidden planes, or interplanar tracking, we shouldn't count her out. If she keeps trying long enough… I don't know." Aufe shrugged. "Planeswalking's different for everyone, right? But if she doesn't see you leave _here_, she'll have a real hard time tracking you down again, especially after I cover your tracks."

Megumi's heart fluttered. She'd been pushed to the point where even a little more distance felt wonderful.

"We'll keep you out of sight while you're here, just in case," Hira said. "You can get some sleep, if you need to, and we'll—you don't drink blood, do you? No? Okay, good. That would be harder to accommodate. Anyway, we'll feed you, and make sure you're ready for whatever's next. My home is yours, so long as we get you out of here before your Echo hits in ten hours."

"It's my home, too," Aufe reminded her, then smirked at Hira's annoyance. "I know, I know, _obviously_ the kid can stay with us, you just keep forgetting I live there too, is all!" To Megumi's questioning look, she added, "It's a new arrangement."

Megumi smiled and hopped back into the air. She was still full of questions, and suspected that she knew what this "Echo" was, but she felt so tired that it was nicer to take in the warm air, listen to her companions bicker, and pretend that this was a pleasant, ordinary day. For all she knew, this could be the only way she'd get to experience one again.

* * *

The Guides' home was a cozy little two-story cottage nestled against a grassy hill. The inside was cluttered with books and papers on every surface, but otherwise bright and clean, and speckled with odd islands of neatness. Every room except for the water closet had big windows gazing out onto the rolling plains in every direction, and the great city looming on the northern horizon.

"That's where adventurers gather to try their luck against The Stairs," Aufe had explained.

"And the less said about that," Hira had added, closing the curtains on it. "The better."

Megumi found her hosts a little weird and distant, but slowly came to like them. There was an awkward, tentative energy to them; they were clearly taking pains to treat her warmly even if they weren't suited to it, determinedto be the allies she needed just now. Later, Megumi would realize that they'd fit right in with her growing collection of aunts and uncles back home, at least in that way. Now, curled in a warm guest-room after a big meal, she listened to Hira and Aufe softly bustling about and let the tension slowly drain out of her shoulders and temples. This was as close to safety as she could imagine these days, and she intended to enjoy it.

Somebody rapped on the door.

"_Shit!_" she yelped, then covered her mouth with both hands as Hira leaned in. "H-hi."

"Thank you for being patient with all my questions earlier," Hira said, visibly trying not to smirk. "Now that we know which layer you're from, I was able to stop by our friend Kahir's office and pick something up for you." She held out a small book with a thick brown leather cover.

"What is it?"

"It's a kind of guidebook for planeswalkers, with basic information on different planes. Kahir had one ready for your age group, so we just had to translate – oh – you're 10 or so, right? Around there?"

Megumi wasn't about to correct her, so she just nodded and accepted the book in both hands. It was surprisingly heavy. "Thank you."

Hira sat at the room's desk. "Take a look – look up a plane you know!"

Megumi scanned down the table of contents, pale finger tracing over Soratami script in a strange, angular typeset, and found the section on Kylem. There, she was greeted by a two-page graphite sketch of Valor's Reach, crowding the text to the edges. "Danger rating: Goblin," the top of the page read. "Enjoy your visit!"

Hira scoffed loudly, but when Megumi looked up, she was smiling. "It's illustrated? That's _adorable!_ Why doesn't _mine_ have pictures?"

Megumi smiled back. "Hee, sorry. And thanks!"

"Of course, Megumi. This is just one way to make you stronger! We try to have a guide for every planeswalker who makes it here – what would be the point of gathering all this information, otherwise? I'll be sure to tell Kahir you like it."

Megumi flipped back and forth. Ravnica, danger rating: Kitsune. Zendikar, Ogre. Innistrad, Oni God. She wasn't sure how intuitive this danger scale was, but maybe someone who was actually from Kamigawa would understand it better? "Is your plane here?"

"Right at the end," Hira confirmed. "The only entry that's the same between every edition."

Megumi slid her thumb under the pages to get there, but then froze as a dreadful thought occurred to her. "I won't get mixed up, will I?" she asked. The specter of finally making it all the way home and discovering that she'd ended up in _the_ _wrong Kylem _was terrifying. "When I leave here?"

"Don't worry. You can only planeswalk on your own layer. Same for any other visitor. Aufe can only go to the layer she's from, so if she wanted to leave with you, you would just each end up on your own layer of whatever plane it was."

Megumi let out a little sigh of relief – her odds of going to the right place were already slim enough! After a moment, though, her eyes narrowed in thought. "But what about you?"

"Beg pardon?"

"When you planeswalk away. You're from here, right? So, can you pick?"

Hira grinned. "Ah! That's very astute of you! But sadly, no. If I wanted to go to Kylem and let your parents know you're here, I wouldn't know which version of the plane I'd end up in, at least if I started from Xerex. It makes planeswalking too risky for me to…" She broke off, suddenly troubled. "Actually, never mind that."

Megumi instantly saw what had stopped her. If not knowing which layer of a plane you'd reach was dangerous, not even knowing the plane in the first place was _at least _as bad. She didn't want to bring that up so she wouldn't scare the little child. How annoying! She wasn't going to let Hira off the hook that easily! "'Cause if you wanted to go and visit Miss Aufe on Mirrodin, you could end up in New Phyrexia, right?"

Hira pursed her lips and nodded. "You've got it."

"Fuck," Megumi whispered. She tried not to think about the fact that _she _could end up there, too, and mostly succeeded. "Fuuuuuck."

"Don't bring New Phyrexia up to Aufe, of course. She… imagine spending your whole life fighting a war, losing friends, watching whole continents sink into the sea… and then, when you've won and saved the world, you learn that somewhere out there is a plane that's exactly like yours, but it fell into darkness as though you'd never fought. Isn't that awful? New Phyrexia has to be a ghost to her, a might-have-been. She can never go to your layer, and it will never touch her, so treating it as real would just torture her. Do you understand?"

Megumi nodded along. She was having a hard time following, but it _sort of _made sense. "Is that why Echoes are bad? That's what that is, right? You want me to leave before another me comes?"

"That's right. When we get a visitor from one layer, it usually means a counterpart from another where the history is just similar enough will be along, or more. We have another friend who does all the math and predicts Echoes – but that's all fate magic, which I don't understand at all."

"Another me…" Megumi rolled the idea around in her head. "Is she being chased, too?"

"I'll find out soon enough, but I don't want you to worry about it," Hira said firmly. "Listen: as soon as you leave this plane, that other Megumi won't exist. From where you'll be, the other layers will just be ideas. If she's being chased, and she gets caught, all it'll be is what _could have happened_, but didn't. Focus on yourself, and your own chase."

Megumi stared at her with wide eyes, and was surprised to see her shy a little. She sometimes forgot how unsettling her gaze could be. "So is it all fake for you, living here? When I leave, will you forget about me, and I'll just be a Maybe Megumi?"

"I don't know," Hira admitted. "Being entirely honest, I try not to think about it too much."

This was all too existential for Megumi's liking. She hugged herself and looked to the window, which they'd covered with heavy drapes to hide her from the outside.

"You're not just worrying about me," Hira said. "You've made a lot of friends on this, ah, trip?"

"I hope they're all okay… Althea, Greta, Nyx, Gozha, S-Sophi…" Megumi drew her knees up. "I can't look at it like you. Even though I can't go back, and every time I leave it's like I'm disappearing… I don't want to forget them. I don't want them to forget me!"

But they all had their own stories, didn't they? And she wasn't a part of any of them. Sooner or later…

Hira laid a gloved hand on her back. "I can promise that I won't forget you, at least. And I don't mean the idea of you, or your Echoes, whoever they turn out to be. _You, _the girl I'm talking to right now. The others you've met along the way won't forget you either, I'm sure. How could they?"

Megumi looked up over her knees, red irises gleaming from dark pits. "It's… it's gonna be hard to sleep tonight."

"Hmm." Hira nodded patiently and shifted to sit on the bed next to her. "Let's talk about something nicer, then. Why don't you tell me a little about your home? We can look at the pictures in your new book, too."

Megumi considered the offer, then nodded shyly and settled back against her arm. Some hard edge bit into her briefly, but Hira shifted and Megumi studiously forgot about it. It was rude to ask people questions about their bodies, after all. "Okay," she said. "What do you want to know?"

"Ohh… how about…" Hira reached over her shoulder and pointed to the guidebook. "The big arena that was on your plane. Have you ever been there?"

"Just once!" Megumi's mood slowly improved as she told Hira all about her day at Valor's Reach – the amazing luxury suite Daddy had gotten for them to watch the games from, the capering homunculi mascots and the wild costumes of the fans, the Lore Weavers' oratory, how she managed to get an autograph from Pir (and the mysterious autograph from "Toothy" that appeared under it the next day and scared everyone), the refreshments from across the plane and beyond… and from there she shifted to Kylem's sky, and animals, and the friends she had there, her parents and the motley assortment of planeswalkers who were always visiting…

Hira was mostly quiet, but every time Megumi looked, she was listening closely. After a time, she rose and gently guided Megumi's shoulders to the bed, and then settled into the chair for the last few minutes before her guest trailed off and finally drifted to sleep.

* * *

Hira wandered downstairs and flopped onto the sitting room's chaise lounge. She reached for a book, but then let her hand rest on it and watched Aufe stringing her metal lute in a narrow space she'd managed to clear from the a few minutes, she finally spoke up. "Hey, Aufe? Do you think we'll ever want k—?"

"No," Aufe said mildly. "We won't."

"Ah."

Aufe snickered and gave the lute an experimental strum, which produced a deep, bone-chilling drone. "Sorry. You're never this quiet, though; acting like a responsible adult all day's drained you dry. This one's cute and well behaved, and we'll be sending her off tomorrow. It's not at all like actually having a kid, and I don't think either of us are ready for it. We'd grow into it, but you wouldn't want to."

"Ohh, how cruel," Hira said with a sigh, and stood. "I'm going to go check on the Fireflies and make sure nobody slipped through tonight."

"Worried about that cyclops?"

"A little."

"Come on, it doesn't take a lot to terrorize a little kid. If this Grii shows up, I bet you'll tear her limb from limb."

Hira knew that was a compliment, but grimaced all the same. "Can you help me with the control gear?"

The Fireflies were controlled by a set of brass gauntlets linked by thick rubber hoses to a heavy backpack. The rig was cumbersome, but sturdy and reliable. It had been built by a visiting planeswalker from a strange layer of Ravnica where the dragon Niv Mizzet had founded a guild of inventors, working with steam, metal, and bottled lightning, rather than the masters of flesh and bone from Aufe's layer.

"I miss Ral," Aufe said idly, buckling the backpack's straps across Hira's chest. "Do you think he ever finished that Maze thing?"

"I'll bet he threw the contest for a handsome boy. He seemed the romantic type." Hira bounced on her heels to test the weight, and nodded. "Thanks. Oh, also, the laws of his Ravnica became sapient and tried to rebel against its people, so he's probably too busy to visit."

"Ugh. I forgot about that."

"At least it wasn't the Elder Dragon thing from Megumi's layer. He's probably fine." Hira stepped back. "I should be quick, but don't wait up."

"You'll get all sullen if I don't," Aufe replied, and leaned forward to touch her forehead to Hira's. "See you soon."

Hira smiled and took her leave, striding out under a purple sky to the song of cicadas and nightjars. The city's lights painted a garish rainbow across the clouds to the north, while to the east, tucked away in a shallow valley, the Firefly Field glowed in a constellation of warm, gentle amber. As Hira stepped beneath the first Firefly and tugged on its chain to bring it closer, unease wound through the back of her mind, and her heart started pounding. That wasn't normal, was it? _That's not my anxiety, it's magic! Something is _making _me—_and just like that, it was gone.

Above her, the Firefly flickered and sputtered, caught on the edge of reporting a planeswalker arrival, then settled back into a steady burn. Maybe someone had tried, but Xerex hadn't gotten another visitor in this one's sector.

Hira frowned up at it. Was there really someone throwing themselves into the Blind Eternities trying to get to Xerex, or had the Firefly malfunctioned? Or was it her imagination? Probably just nerves.

Probably.


	2. An Intruder to Break

**Author's Note**_** -** The name Xerex comes from a Planechase card depicting "The Stairs of Infinity." With this interpretation, I'm trying to incorporate Time Spiral-esque alternate timelines without trivializing every conflict we witness... and also to grapple with one of the stranger aspects of Megumi's journey. By meeting an array of fanwalkers across many creators, she's careening through multiverse of multiverses that may never touch. She isn't moving between the "layers" this story describes, but she_ is _witnessing bits and pieces of__ stories that are complete without one another, and will continue without her. It's a lonely thought, isn't it? Maybe Bace's project is revealing something important about what it's like to be a planeswalker..._

* * *

The next morning, the Guides ended up cutting Megumi's departure worryingly close to her Echo to give her time for a hearty breakfast and a hot bath. (Soratami went through shampoo like demons, it turned out.) Megumi patted down her freshly laundered clothes, dropped her new guidebook and some Mirran mineral bars (just add water!) that should survive the Blind Eternities, and gave her hosts a big smile that was only half for show. "Thank you so much, Miss Hira, Miss Aufe!" she said. "I'm ready to go!"

"Man, look at that little trooper!" Aufe gave Megumi a friendly slap on the back. "You could learn from her, Hira!"

"We have a half hour," Hira said, ignoring her. "Let's get to the site! Oh – and you're welcome, of course, Megumi."

The three hustled out and took a skiff along a shallow, rushing river northward, beyond the city. As they passed it, Megumi's ears twitched to the sound of deep chanting.

"Hear that?" Aufe said, cupping a hand to her ear. "Someone made it back from the 100th level!"

"If it's really them who came back," Hira said darkly.

Megumi decided she didn't want to hear about whatever was going on in there.

"The site" was a nondescript hill in a place that Megumi would have called a desert if it weren't so cool. Badlands, maybe? Or did deserts come in different temperatures? Hira seemed like she'd know, but there really wasn't time to ask questions. Anyway, there wasn't anything around them but sand and rocks, and thanks to the skiff's speed, the city wasn't even on the horizon.

"Here, maybe try this," Aufe suggested as Megumi got ready to walk. "Don't picture Kylem – think about how it makes you feel. That's how it is for some people, right?"

"And… thank you for the food, and the book. I…"

"Don't worry, Megumi," Hira said, managing to blend tenderness and impatience. "This is our job as Guides. We found you worthy, so we send you away stronger. And, of course, we _remember_. But please – time is short."

"A-alright," Megumi said, and mustered up another smile. "Here I go!"

With a pop of displaced air, and a puff of warm wind, she was gone.

"Huh," Aufe said. "That's not the effect I expected."

"I thought it'd be flashier, too," Hira agreed. "Now, her Echo should appear right around here, in just a few minutes. I'll wait for her."

"And I'll scrub the kid's trail," Aufe said. "Watch out for that cyclops of hers, if you really think she's coming. And if you can't kill her, just get her talking to buy some time. You have a talent for that."

"I do?"

"You just have one of those faces," Aufe confirmed. "See you soon." She stepped into a weave of black and gold, which twisted into itself and wrung her from Xerex. As always, her passing left a massive, disruptive wake that washed away the sense that anyone else had been through.

"She's like a baloth," Hira said enviously, and settled back to wait. It crossed her mind that she didn't really know much about how tracking planeswalkers worked. Planeswalkers were so rare, and their abilities so idiosyncratic, that it sometimes seemed impossible to research them as a collective group. It would be impossible to say whether this Grii really needed to see Megumi take off to follow her, or even cared about the trail Aufe had dutifully wiped out at all. How did she sense her prey? Where did…?

A cold feeling gripped Hira and she stood, slowly. _There _it was. Somehow, she'd known. Dread rolling through her like a boulder, far too heavy and immediate to be her own heart, filling her veins with ice. She stood still tasting the fear as it grew, and then relaxed as it steadied. If that was as bad as the hunter's aura of fear got, she could handle it.

_How _are _you tracking the girl? _Hira wondered, scanning the horizon. _I thought you'd appear back in the plains._ There! Alarmingly close, and approaching with long strides, was a hulking, glowering cyclops. It could only be Grii. _Alright, Hira. No stress, but you've gotta take care of her before Megumi's Echo comes._

She wasn't quite what Hira was expecting. Her leather breastplate was brand new, and the claymore she drew was freshly polished. Even from the distance, Hira could sense the faint savor of healing magic rising from her tough skin. (Did she have allies? Had she extorted a healer?) Grii had apparently taken her setback as a chance to rest and resupply; hardly the crazed, desperate monster she'd prepared for. Also, Megumi had exaggerated her size a little, but that was understandable.

"Ah, hello, we've been expecting you!" Hira said, tenting her fingers, and picked a lie out of a hat. "Welcome to Equilor! If you want to get home within your normal lifespan, you'll have to leave quickly."

"You saw the girl," Grii replied bluntly. "Where is she?"

"We sacrificed her to Xenagos," Hira said, pushing her voice low to keep it from creaking nervously. "It's regrettable – she seemed like such a nice girl – but the Master of Revels demands them young, and when we get the chance to avoid losing one of our own children…"

Grii hefted her sword and advanced. "Liar."

"You just missed her," Hira said, in exactly the same tone, and started to back away. "I sent her off twenty minutes ago, at most. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't tell you where she went. It's unfortunate for you, but the trail ends here."

"Try again," Grii growled, raising the sword.

"I taught her how to control her planeswalking, and now she's safe with her—"

The cyclops brought her blade down and Hira confidently raised her left hand to catch it. Neither got what they expected. Flowing metal claws burst through Hira's glove and splayed wildly around the sword, while more shot from her elbow and shoulder to plunge into the ground all around them and brace against its force. All at once, Grii was trying to swing through an intricate weave of crisscrossing metal supports – and _succeeding_. Hira stumbled sideways and cried out as the sword veered off, shearing tangled lengths of filigree away.

Grii answered her with a bellow, and that's when Hira learned that the fear wasn't just a passive aura – it _exploded _around them and blasted her thoughts away. Pain flashed through her temples and down her shoulder as bio-engineered glands unleashed a monstrous cocktail of hormones, and she leapt with all of her strength. The whole twisted mass of her metal arm lashed to fling her from Grii's reach, then became a set of hooked claws that screamed across the stone as she skidded back in a three-point landing.

"Etherium," the cyclops grumbled. She pulled her sword free and sneered down at the lengths of broken metal wriggling into the sand and under rocks for later recovery. "Disgusting."

Hira couldn't think of a reply, so she focused on catching her breath. The fear had dipped back down to a manageable level, for now. Her muscles burned with building power, and her senses had snapped into last-moments clarity. She could see the laces in the cyclops's trousers, the bronze fastners of her artificial arm, the drying blood speckling her otherwise-clean boots – and _smell_ it, too. All at once, the trail of bloodshed and horror in the hunter's wake was obvious. Hira bared her teeth and her breath steamed in the warm air. She could fight an elephant like this. Would that be enough?

Grii began to stalk in a wide circle, eying her warily. The huge sword whirled casually from hand to hand, the prosthetic no less sure. "If you tell me where the girl went," she offered. "I'll go after her. Wouldn't you rather live?"

"D-don't get cocky," Hira replied. She pulled off her right glove, revealing a clawed hand with gleaming turquoise scales like a dragon's, then ripped the whole sleeve off. Cool mist rose from the freed scales as she sank into a low stance and twisted her etherium arm into a blade.

"Does every idiot in the multiverse want to fight me?" Grii asked the sky.

Hira lunged while she was in mid-word, thrust with her etherblade, and folded painfully around an elbow strike to the gut. Grii didn't get a moment to enjoy the hit before she was engulfed in a tornado of blades and claws well inside of her reach. She retreated, awkwardly swinging, trying to track the blazing golden eyes leaving trails all around her. When she finally managed to catch Hira with the flat of her sword and bat her away, a hidden stinger snaked out behind her and lashed across Grii's face.

"Pissant!" Grii snarled. "What the hell was that?"

"Venom!" Hira answered, once she'd landed. "I'm afraid you don't have long, now."

Grii narrowed her eye at Hira and tested the bloody stroke on her cheek. "It itches a little."

Hira's arms dropped to her sides. To her left, red lightning crackled through the gorgeous loops of her filigree limbs, carrying the wild, inventive passion of the people of Esper, and her teacher: Mayael the Animus. To her right, cool mist swirled like the light touch of the Izzet Combine's biomancers and the gentle wisdom of their founder: Niv-Mizzet, the Un-Dragon. She'd revealed both of her secret legacies, and for all of that power, all of that history, all of the hope she'd poured into them through a thousand trials… her deadly weapon of last resort _itched a little_.

"For pity's sake," Hira whined. "You're not even getting any nausea?"

The cyclops laughed coldly, and kept laughing as Hira changed her arm into a crackling helix and hit her with a red bolt of lightning, then another, then blanketed her in a constant stream. It clearly hurt, from the odd hitches and jolts in her voice as she drew closer, but she _didn't care_. A set of shining black inner eyelids closed over Hira's eyes and her etherium arm shifted into a funnel that unleashed a thunderclap and blinding flash right into Grii's face – then awkwardly compressed into a hand to catch the punch that followed as she completely ignored it.

Grii reached across her front and gathered up a bouquet of etherium in a brass-plated fist. It was covered in ornately-worked patterns, like twining vines. There weren't many places you could get a prosthetic with such strength and reliability. Was it Kaladeshi? _Focus, Hira!_

Vents opened along Hira's dragon arm and sprayed caustic mist across Grii's chest and face. That actually got her to back up and shut her eye against it, so she missed the spark that Hira cast to turn the cloud into a wall of flame. Instead of retreating, Grii calmly stepped back, yanked Hira through her own flames, and threw her to the ground with one hand.

Hira tried to rise, but Grii's boot swung through the smoke into her ribs and knocked her rolling end-over-end. She finally landed on her side and gagged, clutching her middle. _Good hit!_

With a sound like a distant scream, icy wind swirled around Grii and the fires on her clothes guttered out. "Been a while since someone's tried that," she commented. "Lightning and fire, drowning and poisons, the Surface… they tried them all on me, to find my spark. This is just a pale echo!"

_Echo… does she have a…? _Hira struggled up to her elbows and tried to crab backwards. Her mutant adrenalin was starting to fade, which would leave her at the mercy of Grii's terror. A trained warrior might resist it, or a true beast could ride it into a rage, but she was an academic! But maybe, maybe Grii's own weapon gave her an opportunity…

Grii noticed faint streamers of blue and red spreading around her from scattered fragments of etherium lying all over. "Now you're going to try and read my mind?" she asked, then broke into a wide grin and spread her arms. "Go ahead! See what happens to you! I left the last asshole who tried it in pieces!"

Red and blue flared, twisted, turned over one another, and Grii was suddenly in the center of magical mirror. Hira almost collapsed with relief as her aura of terror was contained and focused inward, frying the air around Grii's head and chest with its intensity. In the silence, distant thunder reached them and a cool breeze kicked up.

For a moment, Grii was still, gazing ahead with a neutral expression. "You think…" she started in a calm voice, then broke into a roar and delivered a running kick that lifted Hira into the air. "You think I'm some petty bully, that I'll crumble if you give me a taste of my own medicine? You think I don't feel this _every moment?_"

Hira landed on all fours, ready to run, but it was too late – Grii was already on top of her! Beyond panic, she cast her etherium forearm up and it splayed into a forest of spikes, while her left leg shredded into metallic roots to brace her.

"_I'll butcher you!_" Grii took the spray of spikes full-on, digging into her breastplate and arms, driving Hira into the ground with the weight of her body. A tail swept from Hira's robes and drove a cruel stinger into Grii's leg, but she didn't react at all. The claymore came around one-handed and smashed the mess of spikes aside, then an enormous boot came down on Hira's chest, rattling etherium-reinforced bones and bruising enhanced muscle. Grii raised her foot to stomp again, but froze, eye darting back and forth suspiciously.

Hira felt it, too. It rose in her heart like Grii's gnawing terror, but this sensation was warm and bracing. It brought Megumi back to mind and fixed her in Hira's resolve. It didn't chase the fear away, but burned alongside, matching it. An Echo! Not Megumi's, but…

"On your left," Hira croaked.

Grii spun to her right and parried an axe blow from a figure in black armor. The newcomer swung again, but the cyclops matched their speed, parrying stroke after stroke in an absurd superheavyweight fencing match. As one, they cast their weapons aside and bulled into one another, grappling with terrifying speed and grace, boots pounding and squeaking on the stone as they maneuvered, grasping, punching, grunting, and roaring.

"Too close," Hira gasped miserably, dragging herself back. "Too close!"

The giants finally locked their hands in a test of strength, pushing with all of their might, bloodshot eye to grim visor. "And who are _you?_" Grii snarled.

Before her foe could answer, something bounced off of Grii's shin and spun to a stop between them. It was metal canister about the size of a coffee mug, trailing faint reddish smoke. Grii suddenly gave ground and the armored giant stumbled over it. That accidental dive might have been the only reason Grii survived the explosion.

As the smoke cleared, a golden shield spell faded over Hira and Aufe stepped past her, loading another grenade. A half dozen men and women in white cloaks and brown armor spread out in a semicircle behind them. Two wore gleaming bracers that marked them as wizards, and the rest were wielding grenade launchers like Aufe's.

The newcomer had been flung away and landed flat on their back, but Grii had merely been driven back into a crouch, a ghoulish mountain of burns, bloody wounds, and smoldering black spots spreading across her armor and bronze arm. "When I'm done with the girl," she roared. "I'm coming back and tearing-!"

"The loud one! Fire!" Aufe yelled, pointing, and a volley of grenades arced out.

Grii's parting shot to Xerex was to rip a chunk of shrapnel out of her forearm and hurl it at Aufe – by sheer chance it glanced off of the metal in her forehead and knocked her sprawling instead of biting deep. The cyclops vanished into cold wind and ethereal screams, which were immediately swallowed in explosions. The two wizards contained the blast with golden force walls; had Grii remained, she'd have been vaporized in a needle of fire and vented into the sky far above them.

Silence fell, along with the promised rain. Thunder rattled across the sky, but it seemed gentle after the grenades.

"Do we do the other one?" Aufe asked, helping Hira to sit up.

"No, I think that one…" Hira broke off to cough for a bit. "If that one isn't nice, I'm too tired to do anything about it. I think they're nice, though."

"Who was that?" the armored giant asked, approaching with axe stowed and hands spread. The Guardians had their grenade launches lowered, but the two wizards quietly watched the giant's approach, ready. "Why was she attacking you? She looked…"

"I don't feel like explaining everything again," Hira said. "I have had a _bear _of a day."

"Just think of her as a cut-rate Garruk," Aufe suggested.

Hira started to laugh and broke off with a pained hiss.

"I know some healing magic, if…" The figure retreated a step from Aufe's look, then scanned the Guardians surrounding them. Finally, she took off her helmet. "If I can help in any way, I'd love to. My name's Grii, pleased to meet you."

"Of _course _it is," Hira said tiredly. "Thank you for the offer."

Second Grii gave her an odd look, then shrugged. "I'm trying to find a lost child. A scryer from Ravnica sent me this way, and told me how I could get to Xerex. It's not so different from the way my home plane was protected, so the trick wasn't too difficult."

"I guess it's our job to help you," Hira said. "Or Aufe's job. I'm about to sleep for a week."

Aufe looked to one of the wizards, who drew a blue sigil in the air and gave her a nod. She sighed and gestured with both arms, signaling the fireteam to withdraw. "Alright, then, Grii, what does this kid look like?"

"I have a picture," Grii said, pulling it from her pack. "Sorry, this is the only one I've got. It's a photograph, like they make on Kaladesh? Her name is Megumi."

Aufe accepted the glossy sheet. The girl in the picture was indeed Megumi, though she didn't have a dhampir's eyes, and her dress was an eye-watering mix of yellow, blue, and pink. She was flanked by a regal soratami with vivid green eyes (and hands, oddly), and a slender, sharply-dressed human of indeterminate gender in black. Grii hulked alongside them with nervous smile that suggested she wasn't entirely sure what she was doing there, but the person in black was resting a friendly hand on her shoulder. The photographer had caught Megumi in the act of casting an impish look up to the cyclops.

"Family picture?" Aufe asked.

"I'm just a bodyguard," Grii said diffidently. "But yes, those are her parents. Sister Midori of the Jukai Wood, and Inquisitor Crow of Nephalia. They're looking for her too, if you see them."

"You're in luck, friend," Aufe said. "My friend and I were here watching out for someone who looks just like this, suspecting that she'll need help. If you wait a few minutes, we'll find out if she's your girl. Rest your feet – you probably need it about as much as Hira, here."

Second Grii sat down cross-legged. "Does H… are you sure you don't need healing?"

"I bounce back," Hira said. "Healing magic doesn't know what to do with me, anyway."

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Second Grii spoke up again. "I should warn you – there's someone pursuing Megumi, a… creature that used to be an angel. They call her the Vestige of Goldnight. I defeated her on Ixilan, but I don't know if she's given up, or not."

Aufe nodded briskly. "Noted."

"We've heard of the Vestige," Hira added.

Second Grii's gaze turned to the crater her counterpart had planeswalked from. "And seriously, who was that? I haven't felt fear like that in a long time… a very long time."

"Want to tell us about it?" Hira asked idly.

"Not especially. She just seemed familiar, like someone I would have met on my home plane."

"Before your spark ignited?"

"That took some doing," Second Grii said distantly. "The last time I felt that afraid was when I faced the person who'd caused me to spark. She wanted me to stay on Cirn, and serve her. I almost agreed; I had this wild plan of playing the long game, and gathering the resources and power I'd need to kill her. If I'd given my life over to vengeance, to make everyone suffer like I had… I might have ended up like this cut-rate Garruk of yours."

Hira shared a look with Aufe. _I guess I really do have one of those faces._

"I've heard some strange things about Xerex," Second Grii continued. "And you two seem to know a lot that you shouldn't. I'm starting to wonder if…"

With a pop and burst of phantasmal confetti, Second Megumi appeared just four meters away. She was a bit taller than in the picture, and she'd picked up a nose ring at some point. Her outfit was trim and athletic, and her green hair had been chopped into a distinctive shape, like one of Kylem's arena fighters. A bright pink cloak settled around her shoulders, but puffed back out as she waved enthusiastically. "Auntie Grii?" she called. "Is that you?"

"Oh thank Oketra!" Second Grii cried, spreading her arms, and Second Megumi went _thunk _against her breastplate in a full-body hug. "Your parents are worried sick!"

Hira burst out laughing when their spinning hug revealed that this Megumi's cloak had "Badass Bitch" stitched into the back in green cursive. Somehow, she had the sense that her Megumi would love the design, if not the colors. _But she's not your Megumi, _Hira reminded herself, and abruptly stopped laughing. _Not any more than this one is. You're apart from all of this – you don't _have _a Megumi!_

Despite that thought, she smiled through the reunion. They had to turn down an invitation to visit on Kylem, unfortunately. Hira considered explaining why, but it didn't seem like something to drop on Second Grii after her encounter with herself. Instead, they cited their duties as Guides, and Aufe helped Hira to her feet to see them off.

"Thank you for the… strange… guidance," Second Grii said. "A tip in return: if the Vestige comes, don't risk letting her touch you – stick to those cunning bombs of yours."

"Ooh, they have bombs?" Second Megumi asked.

"I'll tell you about them later." Holding the child close, Second Grii stepped away and summoned a hot wind with a sound like trumpets calling a charge. It swirled around them in a smear of sunset light and carried the two away.

Once they were gone and she had nobody to put up a front for, Hira's heart froze in her chest and she crumpled into a ball. Maybe it was the curse of a Xerexian, but she couldn't let go of all the possibilities they'd narrowly avoided. What if this Second Megumi had come at the wrong moment and found a homicidal monster instead of the Grii she loved and trusted? What if Grii had been faster in arriving, and found Megumi before them? What if the Second Grii had been _slower?_ What if, what if, what if… and if any of them had happened, there would be no alternate layer of the multiverse where things had turned out better.

"It's okay," Aufe said patiently, snaking a gentle arm around Hira's shoulders and pulling her close. "We did good. We did good! The one kid got away from the bad cyclops, and the other kid made it to the good cyclops."

"Right…" Hira said, letting go of her fears with a strange reluctance. "Okay."

Aufe held her for a time, watching her tail slowly winding over the sand. Broken fragments of etherium started to wriggle back to them like worms, which she politely ignored even as Hira absently scooped them up. When Hira's breath had evened out, Aufe said, "I can handle the next one alone."

"The next…? Oh. Right." There was still one last Echo incoming. Another bunny, then another cyclops, with just an hour or two between them. Hira groaned and struggled to her feet. "If I can get a bath before then, I can be there."

"But you won't," Aufe said firmly. "You'll be in bed."

"Oh, if you insist…" Hira caught herself looking towards the crater and shook her head.

Aufe guessed where her thoughts were going. "You think our Megumi will make it home?"

"I hope so. That cyclops isn't going to give up." Hira smiled grimly. "But she might find the chase a little harder now. I think I got her."

"Did you poison her?" Aufe offhandedly produced an umbrella as the rain started to pick up.

"No, I envenomated her. Important distinction. But yes, that could slow her down if she doesn't seek treatment." Hira shook her head at that. She was _still _disappointed by her venom's performance. "The real venom came from Xerex, though. If Grii realizes who she met, or even suspects… oh, I don't expect any kind of an epiphany, but I hope it shakes her. I hope it poisons every choice she makes."

"Or, uh, envenomates them?"

"Ha. Alright. If I'm on vacation, then can you help me home? I have some editing to do for Kahir's next edition."

"That's not what you do on a vacation!" Aufe said. "And at least take a bath first!"

As they went on their merry, bickering way, a faint _hiss _rose from the crater. Grii's sword was embedded in its edge, scorched and dented, but miraculously intact. It was nothing special – she'd have a dozen just like it in stashes across the multiverse. But as the rain pummeled down, it started to steam, and webs of black corrosion spread over it from Hira's spray. The blade finally gave as thunder split the sky, cracking apart and tumbling to the grimy puddle at the crater's floor.

If you're worthy, the Guides of Xerex send you away stronger. If not…


End file.
